A snowmobile travels over the snow and a lower section of the endless drive track usually sinks into the snow, which causes snow to fall onto the slide rails and the inner surface of the track. Even more so when the snowmobile is turning, because the lower section of the endless drive track is forced to slide sideways over the surface of the snow, and thus one outer lateral edge of the track digs into the snow and pushes snow onto the inner surface of the lower section of the track and the slide rail at that side.
The endless drive track generally extends laterally and outwardly past the slide rail at each side of the snowmobile. Thus, snow lying upon the inner surface of the lower section of the track between the lateral edge of the track and the slide rail at each side of the snowmobile, is traveling along with the rotation of the track and thereby picks up momentum. When this snow reaches the rear idler wheel and begins to change direction with the returning portion (the upper portion) of the track around the rear idler wheel, the snow has picked up enough momentum to be thrown away from the track upwardly as well as rearwardly and forwardly. A portion of the snow which is thrown rearwardly is stopped by a rear tail flap which is a flexible rubber piece hanging down from the rear portion of the tunnel of the snowmobile. However, the rear tail flap is normally not much wider than the width of the endless drive track such that not all of the thrown snow is stopped by the rear tail flap.
On the other hand, a portion of the snow that is thrown upwardly and forwardly is constantly thrown up onto the driver or passenger of the snowmobile. The passengers can become covered with snow and eventually when the snow melts, the passengers can get wet and cold. In a two-up snowmobile, handles are normally provided at the sides for a passenger to hold for stability while riding. The passenger's hands and fingers are constantly being covered with the upwardly and forwardly thrown snow, or worse, being hit with pieces of ice or snow crust when the snowmobile is turning under crusty snow conditions.
Furthermore, if the conditions are such that the snow is dense and packable, the dense snow lying upon the internal surface of the track and the slide rails, if not cleaned away, can freeze the endless drive track to the slide rails when the snowmobile is immobile for some length of time. This necessitates forcing the endless drive track and side rails apart in order to allow the endless drive track to rotate freely.
Therefore, there is a need for a simple structure to be provided to a snowmobile, for removing the snow lying upon the inner surface of the lower section of the endless drive track while the snowmobile is traveling.